Pieces to be played
by AlishaVane45
Summary: No title yet...leave me a review with a suggestion! Lucian, Ekat, Tomas, and Janus...all stuck in one building under the pretense of a placement test. What happens when they find out it really is a huge plot to kill them and their family entirely...and that they are the ones that are being played? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**So finally started something other than Harry Potter lol. Me and my amazing friends just really love the 39 clues and so we started writing this. My friend Bella is the one who originally started this (She's an amazing writer) and we all sort of continued it. Anywayy let me know how it is and if we should continue. And without further ado chapter one! Oncore, cheers, claps and all that jazz hehe ^^**

**Chapter 1**

Six very different, very special girls entered the First District building that day. Each one of them belonged to a branch of the large Cahill family that more or less ran the world.

Arriving first was the eldest of the five, Aubrey Smith. She jumped from the flying ship that had escorted her and looked at the building, admiring the architectural design. It was beautifully constructed despite the drab grey color. The building was tall with gorgeous half- mooned windows, a large door at the front of the building and a grey metal awning.

Aubrey Smith was followed by Emilia Robins. She exited the flying ship that had brought her and regarded the iron and glass building I front of her. After a moment she calculated that if they took off 2.5% of the building's top and sides the safety of this place would increase by 75% at the most. Safety should be there number one priority after all, considering they were on one of the many floating islands Earth now had.

Next was Rinny Oliver. She jumped from her transportation without a second thought landing perfectly on the ground without looking frazzled, despite her thirty foot drop. As she went inside the building and sat in the lobby she wondered what kind of test her branch had set up for her. She was already ranked as one of the top fighters due to intensive training so she was fairly calm about the test that would basically decide her future. After ten minutes of waiting she began to doze off until the rather loud sound of Jets filled the room. She rolled her eyes as she realized who had also arrived today.

At the same time the remaining people walked in. Four bodyguards stood around each one of the girls and it almost would have been ridiculous if it hadn't been for the branch they belonged to.

On the far left there was Alisha du Lexington. Sole heiress to the Lexington industry who, rumor has it, may have been the mastermind behind the recent robbery of the Ocean's Eye. Next to her was Victoria de Levan, duchess of New Marina at the age of 16. No one knows why the elder cousin passed on the power to her but refused the give her title of queen. And lastly was Bella du Atlan- eldest daughter of the newly forged Atlan family who had made their place in the branch by being the first to rule over land in space.

Alisha glanced at the girl watching them looking annoyed but all she did was flip her hair over her shoulder. That was a Tomas for you.

* * *

"Now all you have to do is clear the obstacle course in under five minutes, **Rinny**. Do you understand?" The man asked from above in the glass room that was filled with people eagerly watched the training room below. Rinny looked over the course and thought the hardest part might be the fire wall but other than that nothing was really special.

"Got it." She called up as she pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and took her place at the start.

"3...2...1. Begin."

She ran towards the first obstacle where she had to leap from one slanted wall to another to avoid falling into raw live wires below her. She made it across in less than five seconds. Next there was a small trampoline that she had to jump on, and then grab onto a small metal bar that she needed to move onto descending hinges to reach the other sides. Rinny felt as if they were mocking her at this point.

* * *

Across the hall **Emilia** was flying through a written test that most adults would have been stumped on by question 3. Her advisor had left the room right after giving her the test and after a few minutes of her being gone, Emilia stopped writing and slumped forward on her desk. She had forty five minutes for five more questions- she could take a break. Some thing about this didn't seem right to her. Not only was there the fact that this building was only testing six Cahills and there were no 'normal tours' of one of the most high tech buildings in existence, she had noticed that for something that could determine her being either her own boss and discovering the cure for dark matter poisoning or being a Lucian's personal assistant this test was incredibly easy- almost as if it was just meant to distract her.

* * *

Even further down the hall, **Aubrey** stood in front of a table. The voice had told her that she needed to arrange the works of art in order of artist time period. There was a range of artwork, from literary works to music to paintings and drawings. She frowned at the simplicity of the task, insulted that they had given her such a menial task to complete but at least she was sure of each of her answers. She placed each artwork in order, arranging the musical compositions next to the copies of paintings and other genre of artwork. She glanced over her work one more time, pleased to see such a variety of artwork in one place- not that it rivaled her own home- and pressed the buzzer.

* * *

On the next level above them the three Lucian girls stood behind separate metal tables each one awaiting the task that before them. A mechanical voice echoed through the room giving them their task.

"In the wall behind you there is a chemical bomb filled with a gas that will render unconscious anyone who does not diffuse it or anyone who makes a mistake when attempting to difuse. Your test is to find said bomb and deactivate it by using the various tools avaliable." Random everyday objects ranging from bobby pins to a laser materialized on each table. "You have five minutes… you may begin."

Each girl turned and began looking for a way to unlock the wall. Each one thought about different ideas that could possibly work but the one thought they had in common was how odd this task was. Each one of them had learned to do this while they had been at Barbie- doll- playing age so why were they doing this now. Five minutes later all of them were done and looked at one another as if the other would know what to do next.

And then before they could ask, before Rinny could get her drink of water, before Aubrey could admire the artwork and before Emilia could finish her explanation on why a fourth dimension could exist, the lights went out.

* * *

**Rinny** looked around blindly in the dark trying to feel her way out as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. Just as her hand found the scanner to open the door the lights flashed back on and she looked back up at the observation room ready to let them have a piece of her mind. But no one was there. She placed her hand on the scanner and nothing happened. She was locked in here.

"The day I let that happen is the day I sing show tunes with a Janus." Rinny muttered to herself. She grabbed the metal bar from earlier and began hitting the door with all her strength. Which, simply put, was a lot. Eventually the door gave way and she ran down the empty hallway wondering where all the adults had gone.

"Hey you!" A voice called from behind her, "You know what's going on?"

Rinny turned and shook her head. Emilia all but visibly cringed as she realized who she just talked to was a Tomas. Not only did the idea of not knowing things irritate her but the fact that she was in the same boat as a Tomas hurt her to the core., Aubrey came running from down the hall, frantic and scared.

Suddenly the elevator dinged and the three Lucian girls stepped out, before anyone could question the Janus. Both Aubrey and Rinny had looks of bewilderment on their faces. Who takes an elevator during a crisis like this? Everyone knows you take the stairs. They walked out and just stood there studying the two new people. Alisha noticed that the taller of the two depended in her right side too much and the other one much stronger on her left than right. She had to remember that for later just in case.

"What's going on?" Bella asked hoping the other three would know.

"We don't know." They said in unison. Bella believed them but the afterthought that they may be hiding something form her due to her branch nagged her mind. It had happened before and it could happen again.

"Alright." She said. She pulled out a pink disc from her bag and attached to the wall. A red laser scanned her face before a 3d holographic image of the building floated in the air.

"Wow." Emilia said bored.

"Mine's purple." Alisha said.

"Really mines blue."

"What's that red dot?" That was the Janus and the Thomas.

"Oh that." Bella said, "That's just showing the control room where the electrical disturbance occurred from. But that doesn't explain why the-"

"Don't move!" The six girls looked up and saw the bodyguards from earlier along with several other people looking down at them from a walkway. Each girl was painfully aware of the dart guns pointed in their direction.

"You know, now that I notice those guards...I've never seen them before." Victoria said.

"Can we all agree that something's really wrong?" Rinny asked.

"Yes."

"Then run!"

The six girls ran, barely avoiding getting stuck by one the darts. They ran down towards the landing dock and saw only three HoverCrafts there.

Alisha pulled out her keys and the nearest one's ramp extended down to the ground. "Lets go."

"We can't just leave our hovercrafts!" Bella and Victoria said.

"There is no time for this!" Aubrey yelled. "Just leave them!"

"No." Bella snapped.

"Do you know how much one of these cost?" Victoria asked. They may be Lucians but that didn't mean they spent money just for the cause of having stuff. _Most of the time_. Aubrey sighed and looked at Alisha leaving the persuasion of the two of them up to her as Emilia made the logical decision to enter the HoverCraft.

"Miss Bella, Miss Victoria. We have to go before-"

"Found them they are on the landing dock. I repeat they are on the landing dock." One of the guards said into his watch as he barreled towards them. And that was persuasion enough.

They entered the ship and frantically pushed the close button. Alisha sat in the captain's seat and the ship began moving towards the takeoff part of the dock.

"Your door closes so slowly!" Rinny complained as a number of people began running towards the ramp that was moving back up towards the ship.

"I know but whenever I talk to my dad he goes on and on about 'Alisha you need to learn the value of what you have' and blah blah. This is coming form the man who took me on one of his many art heist when I was seven!" Alisha began to rant. Well someone had me underlying aggression.  
Just as the ship launched into the sky the door closed and the four girls collapsed on the floor in relief. For several minutes no one spoke until the silence was broken by Rinny saying, "I don't know any of you… so introductions anyone?"

"Aubrey," the Janus girl said and shook her hand. The pixie- haired Ekat answered, "Emilia."

The Lucian girls hesitated at first but eventually said,

"Alisha."

"Victoria."

"Bella."

"I'm Rinny." She said, "And now that that is out the way...what just happened?"


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter was written by my friend Victoria :) She's also an amazzzing writer. Check her fanfics out sometime, sparrowdaughter. Let me know how it is with a review xD**

**Chapter 2**

"Well, by examining observed facts, we were attacked by a group of people who had dart guns," said Emilia wisely.

"Or as I would say, we've been ambushed," snapped Alisha from her place at the front. She was focused on the space in front of her but turned back to look at the group and immediately the ship tilted, seeming to nearly fall out of the sky. A high pitched scream of terror left Aubrey's mouth followed by a scream from Emilia. Rinny's heart raced as Alisha rushed to pull the HoverCraft back into an upright and safe position.

"You're going to get us _killed_," snarled Victoria harshly and stood up, stepping over the legs and walking to the front of the HoverCraft. Bella followed, almost tripping over Aubrey's long legs, and commanded Alisha to get up.

"No, it's my HoverCraft," Alisha complained, once again taking her eyes off of the area in front of her, allowing the HoverCraft to drop dangerously. Another scream of fright, this time from everyone and without a thought, Victoria pulled out a small pistol and pointed it to the side of Alisha's head. Alisha froze as did everyone else in the craft. Fear gripped Aubrey's heart and Emilia gasped loudly, her breathing immediately increasing. Bella stared wide- eyed at the lethal weapon pointing to the side of the girl's head as Rinny attempted not to let her fear show.

"This has poison," Victoria said in a deadly quiet tone, "It will kill you if injected, in 3.5 seconds. You'll be out of the way permanently then." She paused to let her words sink in before commanding, "Get up."

Rinny was officially scared, shaking in her seat, at Victoria's tone. With a sigh of defeat, Alisha stood up and moved out of the way and Victoria took her place. With a grumble and a pout, Alisha slid to the back, following Bella, and sat down.

"Umm… those guys are following us," Aubrey- the Janus- said, panicked at the sight of the HoverCraft that was quickly approaching. Her eyes were wide with fright as she stared out. Instantly, everyone was attempting to turn and see them. The HoverCraft immediately picked up speed when Victoria saw how close they were, this was becoming increasingly more dangerous with each passing moment. The HoverCraft was approaching 150 mph and everything beneath the girls was nothing but a blur as Victoria pushed the gas, forcing the HoverCraft to go even faster.

"Approaching from 7 o'clock," Rinny said quickly, not allowing the anxiousness of the others to distract her as the crew of stalkers moved closer. In the front seat, Victoria was looking in the rear-view mirror at the group stalking them in a cheap HoverCraft and contemplating how much ammo she had with her.

"Bella, come here and drive the ship," she commanded with easy authority. Without a word of argument at being commanded, Bella did as instructed and Victoria stepped back. She took a good look at the group that was fast approaching the group of girls, assessing their threat levels and attempting to see if she had anything that might be able to get them to stop. The craft was moving faster as Bella noticed that the other guys were catching up, slowly but surely. Despite the high tension, Victoria and Alisha kept their cool as Emilia cowered slightly in the background, calculating how far down the ship needed to go to be out of any real danger.

"Bella, get this craft to hit 180," Emilia cried from her seat as Victoria rummaged through her pockets. Everyone felt the HoverCraft speed up but then the other craft did too. Then they started to move even faster, they had to be going at least 200 mph.

"Open the hatch," Victoria told Bella just as she pulled the safety off of the gun. The craft immediately filled with protest but Victoria didn't even pay attention as she reached over Bella.

"The goal is to stay _alive_," Rinny said cautiously as if talking to a three year old, causing Victoria to send a glare in her direction. _If looks could kill_, was all Rinny thought as she cowered back in fear. With a satisfied nod, Victoria turned and again reached over Bella, quickly jabbing the button to open the hatch before anyone could stop her. The group of stalkers was gaining on them, nearly side by side, with the hatch to their HoverCraft open too. Emilia cowered back in fear as she saw the dart guns that were again pointing at the girls.

"Get down," Victoria snapped as she stood and balanced herself on the speeding HoverCraft. Everyone immediately hit the ground, except Alisha who stood beside Victoria with a box of chocolates.

"Alisha get down!" Victoria shouted loudly over the rushing wind. In response, Alisha shook her head causing her hair to land in her eyes and nearly blinding her. Just then, a whizzing sound went past Victoria's ear- a dart that had narrowly missed the girl's ear. Without a thought to how she was going to make this work, Victoria pointed the gun, leveling it, and shot. From the barrel shot a small, needle- like bullet. It hit one of the people in the other craft and almost instantly, he went down. The stalker's HoverCraft wobbled precariously at the sudden shift in weight, sending the HoverCraft dipping right. Again, Victoria lifted the gun and shot at one who had his mouth open in fright. The needle landed directly in his mouth, if she could guess, probably right in his tonsil. Down he went to as the HoverCraft again lurched to the right as he too went down.

From her right, Alisha threw a giant round chocolate truffle. It curved beautifully in the air, sailing smoothly against the wiping wind. The chocolate landed directly in the middle of the stalkers' HoverCraft. The fear written on the peoples' faces were comical before changing to relief as they realized it was just chocolate. They turned back around and laughed at Alisha and Victoria. Angered, Victoria lifted the gun again and, as if in slow motion, the people in the other HoverCrafts mouth fell open a second before the chocolate truffle quavered and the HoverCraft exploded. Immediately, the girls in the HoverCraft bowed their heads while throwing their hands of them as the HoverCraft was thrown violently to the left by the explosion. Victoria and Alisha were thrown to the back of the HoverCraft landing on top of Rinny. Bella screamed as she fought for control over the aircraft. It fell further, getting closer and closer to the people beneath them. Emilia cried out as she saw the people getting larger and larger and pointed up at the HoverCraft. She lurched herself to the other end of Alisha's HoverCraft, dragging Aubrey with her.

"Move over, even the weight!" she screamed as she cowered in fear. Rinny threw Alisha over and felt as the HoverCraft's weight shifted.

"Close the HoverCraft! Close the HoverCraft!" cried Aubrey as the wind rushed in her ears. Bella frantically attempted to do all that she needed, firstly closing the HoverCraft's hatch. It took a while, enough time for Bella to right the aircraft and pull up quickly. She narrowly avoided the people beneath them as the HoverCraft shot into the air.

Safely in the air, the feeling of fear slowly dissipated from the HoverCraft. It was replaced with the feelings of anger and bewilderment and shock. It was silent as each girl thought about what had happened. They were all in shock, attempting to cope with their near collide with death.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Aubrey exclaimed, "I almost died. I really almost died!"

"What the heck is going on!?" Rinny asked bewildered. Victoria sighed deeply, almost unaffected by the experience because of her branch, and said, "Someone is trying to harm the people from each branch."

"Well I get that!" snapped Rinny angrily and was sent a withering glare form the Lucian.

"The question is why?" Alisha asked as she removed herself from the floor, glaring at in distaste. Emilia looked up from her position on the floor and answered, "Maybe they want to take over the branch. Or they want a weaker leader of the branches so that way they can be blackmailed. It's the only logical explanation."

"Unless each branch is testing us as a whole," Aubrey said. The three Lucians looked between one another and at the same time, "That would never happen."

"Why not?" Rinny asked, looking immensely confused. With a sigh, Bella answered, "They would never fight multiples of one branch because if any of the Lucians die by a Lucians hand, the Lucian branch would become a war zone within itself."

"A war between ourselves would cause a public dispute and begin a war between branches, and unity would be broken," Alisha finished off quietly.

"Do you think that those guys are all dead?" asked Aubrey. Alisha looked thoughtful before nodding her head hesitantly.

"There's a chance that they could have just been knocked out of the HoverCraft," Emilia mentioned before Alisha could explain her hesitation. Rinny nodded in compliance with Emilia's prediction, agreeing fully.

"It's not like the fall was that far away," Rinny added looking back in the direction of _the_ _incident_.

"But the speed they were pushing would more than likely kill them," Emilia countered quickly, "Unless you're accounting for the amount of padding in their clothing, the weight of the people, and the height at which each fell, we couldn't be exactly precise."

"But they are more than likely dead," Rinny retorted.

"Potentially, but there is also that percentage that they could be very much alive and waiting for us to make a mistake," Emilia said, "They'll wait, then ambush us, and kill us."

"What if they're looking for something," Victoria said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Rinny and Emilia asked at the same time and they each sent the other a scathing look.

"I mean, what if they don't want to kill us," she explained, "What if they just want to take down the branches."

"But all of that information is stored within a different stronghold," Bella replied.

"That's the point," Alisha said, suddenly understanding where Victoria was coming from. The other four girls stared at one another before Rinny said, "I don't understand."

"They want information," Victoria began, "They assume that we must know. And they must have some idea of where it may be hidden."

"But we don't," Bella argued angrily- still somewhat confused.

"They don't know that," Alisha retorted. Victoria nodded, "Exactly. They don't know that we don't know. But they must think we have some inkling of knowledge about it. This means, we have to find whatever they are looking for first."

"Why don't we go ask our parents?" Rinny asked, looking at the girl quizzically.

"They might be able to intercept calls and we might have a leak within the branches," Emilia said, finally understanding where Victoria was coming from.

"Exactly," Victoria replied.

"So… what are they looking for?"


	3. Chapter 3

**This lovely chapter was written by Bella again! ASDFGHJKL; tell her how much you love her writing with a quick review :)**

**Chapter 3**

After the six girls had escaped the inside of the hovercraft had returned to a relative normalcy. Alisha was back to driving with the other two Lucians sitting in the copilot seats and the Janus, Ekat, and Tomas all took seats seaed farther back to sepreate themselves from them.

"Where are you taking us?" Rinny asked the three pilots. Despite the fact the four branches had come to peace with each other generations ago didn't change the fact that they still didn't fully trust each other.

"That's an excellent question." Alisha replied without bothering to turn around. "All you need to know is that its a place and it's safe."

At that Aubrey gasped. "Are you taking us to the Lucian Paris stronghold? I have always wanted to see the art museums there."

"No." Alisha pushed a few buttons on the control panel and metal sheets suddenly appeared over the windows by the seats in the back. "Just for safety."

"You don't trust us do you?" Rinny asked.

Bella sighed. "Give the girl a prize. Of course we don't! And its not like you all back there don't too! I know what you're thinking."

"And how would you know that?" Aubrey asked and got her answer as Bella paused for a second too long in her response time in her reply of it's just a figure of speech. But for now she'd just put that in the back of her mind for later.

Thirty minutes of silence later the hovercraft began a sudden descent...into the ocean. Now had anyone else other than these distant Cahill cousins been in the vehicle they would have been losing their minds and making up wills in their heads. But since they were all Cahills oddly placed safe houses and/or bases were no surprise.

As they got closer the water parted to reveal a metal tube. They flew into it and landed onto a metal landing that we drilled into a dark rock that made up the whole cavern.

Aubrey nodded in appreciation. Even she had to admit that this place was amazing structurally. Emilia nodded in approval, her mind calculating the exact pressure of the water and how they had designed the tubes to sustain that force.

"Okay nobody touch anything unless we tell you and unless you want a slow painful death." Victoria instructed the non-Lucians. The three visibly flinched at the warning. They knew Lucians were known for being into poisons and stuff but still it came as a shock about how much they were into it. "Now please follow us."

The six of them had come here looking for help and advice on handle this. But there was no one there. The hallways were empty, doors unlocked, and computers with classified information still running.

"Maybe they all left because they heard about the attack." Rinny offered trying to calm the clearly confused Lucians.

Bella shook her head. "No. Even if they did they would leave everything like this. This is like Hershey's running out of coco powder bad."

Alisha winked at Bella. Clearly she approved of the saying.

"What?" Emilia asked.

"This is completely improbable and nearly impossible to happen. But since it did..." She let her voice trial off as she began using one of the holographic screens to contact anyone.

Rinny began wandering around the room until she spotted an open file. It was on the existence of Alien encounters on Earth. "No way they're all-"

"Hey!" Victoria slammed her hand down the file. "Don't read our stuff."

"But they're all-"

"I know and I don't care. Stay away from our classified information."

Alisha glared at Rinny before taking the file, obviously to put it somewhere safe.

A high pitched squeal could be heard from the far side of the room and they all turned to see Bella was the source of the previously mentioned squeal. "I got somebody!"

"Who!?" The girls asked in unison as they ran over to the screen.

"My parents." She answered. "Their on Capricorn 3 so whatever was shutting down the communication devices either hasn't or won't reach them as long as they don't get close to earth. Mom, dad can you here me?"

"Yes Princess. How are you?" A woman with curly dark hair asked while smiling down out them.

'Princess is that even possible?' Rinny wondered. But then again they were the Cahills. In this room alone there was a duchess, art theif, the next Picasso, a certified genius, and of course herself who would be the next Tomas to achieve all around gold medals at the Olympics. So to answer her own question a Princess was totally in the realm of possibility here.

"Fine. But we're in trouble down here. Everybody's gone and we got chased out the testing facility and its just been a really rough day." Bella said not caring if she sounded whiny by the end of it all.

"Wait who chased you?" Her dad asked as he appeared on the screen and sat next to her mom on a really big couch.

"That's the thing we don't know." Alisha interjected. "We came here in hopes of help but everyone's gone and you all are the only one's we can contact because you're out of range of whatever is causing all our communications to shut down."

The two adults thought over what Alisha just said before the woman gasped and frantically grabbed the man's arm. "What if it's them? You know they have been making more threats than ever before this year."

"You're right." Just then bars of static began scrolling up the screen. The connection was being broken. "Bella listen to me. Don't try and do anything just find a ship that can bring you and everybody else there to us as quickly as possible."

"Wait what's going on?" Bella asked while trying to save the connection.

The sound went in and out but what made it more frustrating was that he was explaining it while they couldn't hear but it didn't seem like they knew what was getting ready to happen.

"...in case use the S.I.R.E.N gems." And with that the screen went black.

"The what?" Aubrey asked.

"Let's hope it doesn't matter." Bella said. "For now let's look for clues."


	4. Chapter 4

**I've finally got time to write this chapter out, this is my own writing. Let me know how it is and what not xD**

**Oh and just for fun: What is your favorite character? Least favorite? Why and ideas for the next chapter :)**

**Chapter 4**

**Alisha** was having a very interesting day. First she was shipped off to the Slate building to take a placement test. She had studied_all_ night( ok, maybe she hadn't studied at all) but for what? Nothing. It was all just a huge plan to kill her and everyone else. Then she had to deal with a_Janus, Ekat_ _and a Tomas_ all being in _her_ hovercraft as they were getting chased by some killers. Hopefully her chocolate truffle bomb had destroyed them or at least slowed them down.

Victoria and Bella were all looking around for clues while the Ekat, Tomas and Janus went exploring around the stronghold. Yeah right. Exploring.

Alisha laughed and focused back on the screen. The Janus was currently on the 4th floor staring at the paintings on the wall. She was an odd person, Alisha thought. The Janus girl looked at the paintings and grabbing a few materials proceeded to paint an exact replica. Alisha nodded. She was trickier than she looked. And if she was planning on stealing the paintings Alisha was going to have to keep an eye on her.

The Tomas, Rinny, was pacing up and down the stairs. Alisha hoped she didn't stumble on one of the secret stair rooms. That was going to be a problem. Finally her eyes shifted to the Ekat. The Ekat in question was scribbling like mad on a piece of paper. She had even pocketed a little Lucian poison device. That little Ekat.

"Anything yet?" Victoria called.

"Nothing much. Janus trying to sneak a painting under our noses, Ekat pick-pocketing and Tomas, harmless at the moment."

We're going to have to keep a very close eye on them." Bella said watching Audrey carefully examine the 2 paintings, the original and the fake.

"Right." Victoria said. "Theres nothing much around here. All the devices are still running, cameras still on. Seems like the communications were the only things that were shut off. Whoever it was didn't want anyone else knowing what they were up to."

"Exactly." Alisha said. "I checked the footage from yesterday, and the footage around 8am today, the time we were sent to the Slate building..and theres nothing."

Bella hopeful look fell."Whoever it was must have turned everything off while they were trying to get their hands on whatever and then turned it back on, to erase suspicion? That doesn't make sense."

Victoria nodded "Why turn everything back on after they were done? I mean it was going to look obvious anyway seeing as the place is deserted."

"Looks like the Ekat has found something." Bella said.

"Is it the pinball?" Alisha asked "I saw her pick pocket that from one of the rooms."

"No look." Victoria pointed to the screen, where the Ekat was looking at the ground, fingering something.

"Zoom in." Victoria and Alisha screamed as Bella did.

The Ekat looked up right at them, and the screen went black before their eyes.

"Damn it." Victoria growled. "I'll deal with her. You guys go after the other 2."

* * *

**Bella** hated sneaking. Not that she would admit it, it didn't go with the Lucian image. She'd much rather prefer a cup of cocoa and a screen to be staring at then sneaking up on somebody. Crack a code. Done. Diffuse a bomb. Done. Wipe out a group with one dart? Done. But sneaking...ehh.

Yet here she was sneaking up on a Janus. Pfff a Janus. What a joke.

But the Janus was either very calm that she was going to get away or really stupid. She just stood their with her fake painting. It was like she was waiting for Bella to come.

"You must love copying and infringement." Bella remarked as the Janus merely stared at her.

"Oh you mean this?" She held up the fake. "I didn't have a camera, so I drew it up instead. Why? We're you fooled?"

"As if." Bella said. "But surely you noticed we have cameras all over, you could have easily taken one and snapped a picture?"

"Hmm." The Janus just looked at her nails. "Maybe, but I also like to play with my skills at times, you know see what I can do, how far I can go."

Bella nodded. She was trickier than she looked.

"I see...but you forgot you're on Lucian land and we're the ones that have power here."

"Oh really."

"Poison darts, guns, bombs, everything...and you have what? A paintbrush, a canvas...what are you going to do? Paint me a rainbow?"

The Janus laughed. It made Bella uneasy.

"I guess I forgot to mention I also have this." She pulled out a rifle.

Damn she forgot. Janus's were good at all the arts. And that included sharpshooting.

* * *

**Victoria** could not believe this. An Ekat daring to play with her stronghold. No way.

Whatever she had found was theirs, and the Ekat had no right to take it.

Grabbing a poison gun she marched toward the Ekat. The Ekat was quick. She jumped up and pointed the pinball poison drop at Victoria.

"Please, like you even know how to use that thing." Victoria said easily But she knew that the Ekat probably would have figured it out.

"I think you already know if I do." The Ekat muttered.

"Just hand over whatever you have." Victoria said "I'm not here to harm you or anything. I just want what is ours so I can get out of this damn place and find where everyone else has gone."

"Yours?" The Ekat said her voice high. "All of this isn't yours. The Loch Ness Submersible, that belongs to the Ekats. Those painting you have everywhere, half of them belong to the Janus, and the military badge...its rightful owner is a Tomas. And these?"She held up the bag that held evidence that could help Victoria understand maybe who was after the abandonment of the stronghold. "They're ours."

"So your branch is after this?" Victoria said looking astonished.

"Yes and in a few minutes we'll be leaving."

"We?" Victoria said quickly.

"Aubrey and I."

"The Janus?"

"We've formed a temporary alliance. I just needed her for a bit, I'll leave here whenever I get the chance."

Victoria watched as the Ekat laughed. Thinking quickly she coughed.

"What exactly are you waiting for?" Victoria said. "Why not leave now?"

The Ekat stopped to look at her. Victoria prayed this would work.

A pink light glowed on her wristband. Victoria smiled.

"What did you need the Janus to do. Why are you going to get rid of her as soon as she's done? So basically you're just using her?"

The Ekat merely stared. "I thought you were a Lucian, thought you could figure that out."

"Oh." Victoria said raising her wrist where the Janus near Bella could hear everything.

* * *

**Alisha** did not want to go after a bloody Tomas. Was this the reason she had trained her whole life for? To fight a bloody Tomas.

Now the Tomas in question, Rinny, was very strong. She had picked up Alisha and thrown her on the hovercraft, so Alisha didn't underestimate her strength.

The Tomas was still pacing up and down the stairs and paused when she saw Alisha in full combat gear.

"Look I'm going to cut straight to the chase-" Alisha started as Rinny swooped down and threw her against the wall.

Damn Tomas. Alisha could feel blood trickle down the side of her head.

"I see what you're doing. You and those other Lucians. You guys want to capture us and keep us here so that we can tell you all our Strongholds secrets."

Alisha rolled her eyes. Her head was hurting.

"I won't tell you. It's a Tomas promise." Rinny said.

Alisha grabbed a dart ready to shoot but Rinny pushed her to the side. Thankfully Alisha was quick on her feet. She landed smoothly on 2 legs.

She knew she was no match for the Tomas's strength but maybe...

Alisha dropped to the ground, and held her hands to her head. "Ok OK! You got me. Just stay on that step and don't move. I'll shoot you!"

The Tomas laughed and moved a step down.

"No please stay there." Alisha said. _One more step._

The Tomas took another step and the secret step opened dropping her in.

Alisha flipped her hair. That was easy. Ughh her head hurt so much. With a press of a button, a net covered the Tomas. Thankfully the Tomas had dropped on a rolling table so Alisha grabbed the handle and pulled it along, smiling like a little girl with her wagon.

* * *

**Bella** saw the blue glow on her wrist and immediately coughed so that she could hear what Victoria wanted to say.

"What did you need the Janus to do. Why are you going to get rid of her as soon as she's done? So basically you're just using her?" Victoria's voice rang out clearly.

"I thought you were a Lucian, thought you could figure that out." that would be the Ekat.

The Janus at this point was transfixed on the wristband and her mouth was wide open.

"That's what you get for having an alliance with an Ekat." With that Bella swung the rope and tied the strongest knot she knew around the Janus.

The Janus screamed and aimed the rifle at Bella's head. Oh god no.

"INCOMING!"

There was Alisha running after a rolling table with the Tomas on it. Bella embraced it with welcome arms.

* * *

**Victoria** took in the scene before her smiling.

Alisha was sitting in a rolling chair, a white band around her head. That Tomas sure could injure someone. The Tomas was squirming in the net next to Alisha. The Janus and Ekat were glaring at each other, both tied up. Bella sitting in between them, keeping them off of each other.

"So what _is_ going on?"


End file.
